Postdoctoral position – Lenne and Lecuit Labs (January 2018)

11/01/2018

Imaging of adhesion dynamics and in vivo probing of tissue mechanics

Two postdoctoral positions are open at the Institute of Developmental Biology (IBDM) to visualize the dynamics of adhesion complexes and probe the cellular and tissue-level mechanics of developing embryos. Successful candidates will develop a project in the context of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the groups of Thomas Lecuit, a biologist, and Pierre-François Lenne, a physicist, and with theoretical expertise of Raphaël Clément, from the Lenne group.

Description of projects

The overarching goal is to understand how tissue scale morphogenesis emerges from subcellular mechanics and dynamics. The projects will tackle two aspects related to this goal. To understand mechanics, the first candidate will develop and use biophysical approaches to probe cellular to multicellular mechanics, including optical and magnetic manipulation. These measurements should shed light on how cells respond to mechanical stress and how they are mechanically coupled. These measurements will be combined with genetic and molecular perturbations, and will feed theoretical models.

To unravel the dynamics of adhesion complexes, the second candidate will develop/implement lattice light sheet microscopy to determine how forces organize and regulate adhesion complexes.